STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
6182
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
April 3, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. CURRAN -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Education
AN ACT to amend the education law, in relation to the annual extensions
of transportation contracts for school districts
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Paragraph a of subdivision 14 of section 305 of the educa-
2 tion law, as amended by chapter 273 of the laws of 1999, is amended to
3 read as follows:
4 a. All contracts for the transportation of school children, all
5 contracts to maintain school buses owned or leased by a school district
6 that are used for the transportation of school children, all contracts
7 for mobile instructional units, and all contracts to provide, maintain
8 and operate cafeteria or restaurant service by a private food service
9 management company shall be subject to the approval of the commissioner,
10 who may disapprove a proposed contract if, in his opinion, the best
11 interests of the district will be promoted thereby. Except as provided
12 in paragraph e of this subdivision, all such contracts involving an
13 annual expenditure in excess of the amount specified for purchase
14 contracts in the bidding requirements of the general municipal law shall
15 be awarded to the lowest responsible bidder, which responsibility shall
16 be determined by the board of education or the trustee of a district,
17 with power hereby vested in the commissioner to reject any or all bids
18 if, in his opinion, the best interests of the district will be promoted
19 thereby and, upon such rejection of all bids, the commissioner shall
20 order the board of education or trustee of the district to seek, obtain
21 and consider new proposals. All proposals for such transportation, main-
22 tenance, mobile instructional units, or cafeteria and restaurant service
23 shall be in such form as the commissioner may prescribe. Advertisement
24 for bids shall be published in a newspaper or newspapers designated by
25 the board of education or trustee of the district having general circu-
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10523-01-3
A. 6182 2
1 lation within the district for such purpose. Such advertisement shall
2 contain a statement of the time when and place where all bids received
3 pursuant to such advertisement will be publicly opened and read either
4 by the school authorities or by a person or persons designated by them.
5 All bids received shall be publicly opened and read at the time and
6 place so specified. At least five days shall elapse between the first
7 publication of such advertisement and the date so specified for the
8 opening and reading of bids. The requirement for competitive bidding
9 shall not apply to an award of a contract for the transportation of
10 pupils or a contract for mobile instructional units, if such award is
11 based on an evaluation of proposals in response to a request for
12 proposals pursuant to paragraph e of this subdivision. The requirement
13 for competitive bidding shall not apply to annual, biennial, or trienni-
14 al extensions of a contract nor shall the requirement for competitive
15 bidding apply to quadrennial or quinquennial year extensions of a
16 contract involving transportation of pupils, maintenance of school buses
17 or mobile instructional units secured either through competitive bidding
18 or through evaluation of proposals in response to a request for
19 proposals pursuant to paragraph e of this subdivision, when such exten-
20 sions (1) are made by the board of education or the trustee of a
21 district, under rules and regulations prescribed by the commissioner,
22 and, (2) do not extend the original contract period beyond five years
23 from the date cafeteria and restaurant service commenced thereunder and
24 in the case of contracts for the transportation of pupils, for the main-
25 tenance of school buses or for mobile instructional units, that such
26 contracts may be extended, except that power is hereby vested in the
27 commissioner, in addition to his existing statutory authority to approve
28 or disapprove transportation or maintenance contracts, (i) to reject any
29 extension of a contract beyond the initial term thereof if he finds that
30 amount to be paid by the district to the contractor in any year of such
31 proposed extension fails to reflect any decrease in the regional consum-
32 er price index for the N.Y., N.Y.-Northeastern, N.J. area, based upon
33 the index for all urban consumers (CPI-U) during the preceding twelve
34 month period; and (ii) to reject any extension of a contract after ten
35 years from the date transportation or maintenance service commenced
36 thereunder, or mobile instructional units were first provided, if in his
37 opinion, the best interests of the district will be promoted thereby.
38 Upon such rejection of any proposed extension, the commissioner may
39 order the board of education or trustee of the district to seek, obtain
40 and consider bids pursuant to the provisions of this section. The board
41 of education or the trustee of a school district electing to extend a
42 contract as provided herein, may, in its discretion, increase the amount
43 to be paid in each year of the contract extension by an amount not to
44 exceed the regional consumer price index increase for the N.Y.,
45 N.Y.-Northeastern, N.J. area, based upon the index for all urban consum-
46 ers (CPI-U), during the [preceding] twelve month period ending on Decem-
47 ber thirty-first immediately preceding the commencement of the contract
48 extension, provided it has been satisfactorily established by the
49 contractor that there has been at least an equivalent increase in the
50 amount of his cost of operation, during the period of the contract.
51 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
